Wick-tube.



W. R. .TBAVONS.

WIGK TUBE. APPLICATION FILED APILI, 1910- Patented July 12, i910.

WILLIAM R. JEAVONS, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO.

wioK-TUBE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 12, 1910.

Application filed April 1, 1910. Serial No. 552,865.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM R. JEAVONS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in 'Wick-Tubes, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to wick tubes, and is particularly adapted to tubes that are employed with oil stoves of the type in which a blue flame is produced without the intervention of perforated commingling tubes. The wick tubes employed for burners of this type are generally short in comparison with their diameter. In raising and lowering the Wicks provided for burners of such stoves, there is a tendency for the wick-carrier and the wick to be tipped by the spur wheel and cause the wick to rise unevenly and, if means are not provided to overcome or offset this tendency, the wick may be tipped so much as to cause it to bind and sometimes lock in the wick tubes, so that the wick cannot be turned up or down at all.

The construction and arrangement of parts disclosed herein constitute an improvement upon the construction and arrange ment for operating wicks shown in my patent dated April 2, 1907, #848,830. In the invention disclosed in-the above-mentioned patent, the wick tubes are so constructed as to provide a narrowed wick space extending on both sides of the spur wheel by which the wick is raised and extending above and below the said wheel.

lVhile the devices shown in this patent will, if the parts be constructed accurately, prevent the tipping of the wick, it has been found that, if there be any inaccuracy in the parts or difierences in the thickness of the wick, the wick will fit more or less lightly between the wick tubes, opposing considerable resistance to the raising and lowering of the wick. On the other hand, if the wick be relatively thin as compared with the space between the wick tubes, there will be a certain amount of looseness which will permit the wick to thresh more or less, so that in turning it up the part nearest the wick raiser will rise in advance of the rest of the wick and, reversely, in turning down, the

the wick tubes when the burner is in operation and, in exaggerated cases, causing the binding or locking action described hereinbefore.

The present invention eliminates the defects above noted by taking advantage of the slight flexibility of the wick-carrier to cause the wick to move evenly and uniformly in the space provided between the wick tubes.

The drawings forming a part hereof illustrate two embodiments of my invention, by means of either of which the objects of my invention may be accomplished.

In said drawings Figure 1 represents a longitudinal sectional View taken through the central portion of a pair of wick tubes; Fig. 2, a transverse sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3, a sectional detail illustrating a modification of the inner wick tube construction shown in the preceding figure; Figs. 4 and 5, an elevational and sectional detail, respectively, of

a portion of the wick spur wheel; and Figs. 6 and 7 similar views of a modified form of the spur wheel.

Taking up a description in detail of the invention disclosed in the drawings, 1 represents an outer and 2 an inner wick tube, said tubes being connected at their lower ends in any suitable manner, as by soldering. Between the tubes there is formed an annular space 3 for the reception of the wick 4 and for the oil supply.

5 denotes a supply connection by means of which oil is conducted to the lower end of the annular space 3. The outer wick tube is provided with an outwardly-projecting housing 6 forming a chamber and providing a bearing for the inner end of the wick raiser.

7 denotes a tube secured to the housing 6 in any suitable manner, as by soldering, said tube being preferably inclined upwardly and forming a sleeve for the shaft 8 of the wick raiser. This shaft is provided, within the housing 6, with a pair of spur wheels 9 having a spacing sleeve 10 therebetween, said spur wheels and sleeve being retained on the shaft 8 by means of a nut 11.

The wick 4 is provided with a wick-carrier 12, consisting of a sheet of perforated metal applied to the outside of the wick and extending from the bottom to a point somewhat below the top. The lower end of the metal sheet 12 is bent inwardly and upwardly to form a U-shaped support for the lower end of the wick. The annular space 3 is intended to be and normally is of greater width than necessary to permit the free movement of the Wick body between the inner and outer wick tubes. To cause the tubes to closely engage the upper end of the wick, the inner tube is flared outwardly and the outer tube inwardly to form a space therebetween, the width whereof is suitable to the thickness of the wick, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 1.

In constructing burners and wicks, it is extremely diflicult, if not impossible, to maintain a constant width for the annular space 3 between the inner and outer wick tubes; also to obtain wicks of exactly the same thickness. This variation in the width of the space 3 and in the thickness of the wick has caused the defects referred to hereinbefore in the matter of operating the wicks. To compensate for any such inequalities as may arise in the width of the space 8 and in the thickness of the wicks, I provide, with a special form of wick raiser, a special and cooperating construction of inner wick tube.

Attention has been invited to the sleeve 10 interposed between the spur wheels 9. This sleeve is shown as projecting outwardly beyond the inner ends or bases of the teeth 1O of the spur wheels, thus limiting the amount of the projection of said teeth through the perforations of the wick-carrier 12. In operation, the diameter of the sleeve 10 is suiiicient to cause it normally to engage the outer surface of the wick carriers of the thinnest wicks, as indicated in Figs. 1, 2 and 3. This construction is particularly well adapted for application to existing types of wick-raiser shafts. On these shafts, the spur wheels are spaced apart and the sleeve 10 can be very readily applied to saidshaft when assembling the spur wheels thereon.

As a modification of the above construction of the spur wheel, the construction shown in Figs. 6 and 7 may be employed. The penetration of the teeth 18 of each spur wheel is limited by extending the body of each wheel outwardly, as shown at 13", which not only accomplishes the result of limiting the penetration of the teeth but provides a rolling bearing surface adapted to engage the wickecarrier in the same manner as the sleeve 10 engages the same.

The cooperating construction of the Wick tube provides two lines on the inner wick tube, located on each side of the spur wheel and so arranged that the sleeve 10 or the body of the spur wheel (as distinguished from the teeth) will press firmly against the outer periphery of the wick-carrier at a point intermediate between the aforesaid bearing lines. In Figs. 1 and 2, these bearing lines for the Wick are provided by means of a pair of vertically-extending ribs 14 pressed outwardly from the inner wick tube and located on eachside of the spur wheels. These ribs provide a bearing for the interior of the wick and normally space the interior of the wick from the exterior of the inner wick tube. The sleeve between the spur wheels or the projections. between the teeth of the spur wheels, as the case may be, bear firmly against the outside periphery of the wick-carrier between these two ribs. Should the wick be thicker than usual, the effect will be simply to spring that portion of the wick-carrier between the ribs 14 a little closer toward the inner tube, also causing a springing-in of that part of the wick which is opposite the raiser, the ordinary sheet metal of which wick-carriers are constructed possessing suflicient flexibility to permit this action. This action of the wick is insured by the engagement of the wick raiser sleeve or projections with the carrier. Thus any unusual variation in the thickness of the wick or of the space between the wick tubes will be compensated for by the flexibility of the wick-carrier, and the wick will be raised and lowered uniformly. I11 order to facilitate the insertion of new wicks and also to prevent interference with the raising and lowering of the wick, the upper and lower ends of the ribs or panels 141- will bebeveled or inclined, as shown at 14 In Fig. 3 there is shown a modification of the construction of inner tube shown in the preceding figures. Instead of having a pair of ribs or beads pressed outwardly from the inner tube, that portion of the tube which is adjacent to the spur wheels may be flattened, as shown at 15, the junctions 16 of this flattened surface with the curved portion of the inner wick tube providing a pair of vertically-extending projections with a space therebetween into which the wick may be deflected or pressed under conditions set forth in connection with the prior form of my invention.

From the foregoing construction it will be apparent that the parts need not be so accurately constructed and assembled, as would be the case were my construction omitted. The flexibility of the wick-carrier will compensate for any differences which will ordinarily arise in the width of the annular space 3, or, if the wick itself be somewhat thicker than ordinary, the effect will be only that the wiclccarrier will be pressed a little closer into the space between the two ribs or bearing lines on the inner wick tube, which will enable the wick to be raised and lowered evenly.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. The combination of an inner and an outer wick tube arranged to form an annular wick space therebetween, a wick in said annular space having a carrier on its outer surface, a wick raiser cooperating with said wick to raise and lower the same and having means arranged to bear against the carrier, and a pair of vertically-extending projections carried by the inner tube and located one on each side of that portion of the wick raiser which bears against the carrier.

2. The combination of an inner and an outer wick tube arranged to form a wick space therebetween, a wick in said space having on its exterior a perforated wickcarrier, a pair of vertically-extending projections carried by the inner wick tube and extending into the wick space, and a wickraising shaft having a spur wheel thereon arranged to engage the wick-carrier and provided with means adapted to bear against the carrier between the vertical projections.

3. The combination of an inner and an outer wick tube arranged to form a wick space therebetween, a wick in said space having on its exterior a wick-carrier, and a wick raiser having means thereon arranged to raise and lower the wick and provided with means adapted to bear against the carrier and exerting a pressure thereon as said raiser is operated, said inner tube having bearing points on opposite sides of the latter means and a space between said points into which the wick may be deflected by said latter means.

4. The combination of an inner and an outer wick tube arranged to form an annular space therebetween, a wick having a perforated metallic wick-carrier on the outer surface thereof and located in said space, a pair of spaced vertically-extending ribs or projections carried by the inner tube and projecting into said space, a wick-raising shaft, a spur wheel thereon arranged to engage the wick-carrier, and means carried by said shaft, additional to the teeth of the spur wheel, adapted to bear against the wick-carrier between said projections.

5. The combination of an inner and an outer wick tube arranged to form an annular space therebetween, the inner wick tube being constructed so as to provide a pair of laterally spaced vertically extending bearing lines with a depression therebetween, a wick in said space having a wick-carrier on the outer surface thereof, and a wick raiser having means cooperating with the carrier to raise and lower the wick and to bear against the carrier between said lines and press such portion of the carrier toward said depression.

6. The combination of a pair of wick tubes arranged to form an annular space therebetween, a wick in said space having on its exterior a perforated wick-carrier, said wick tube being provided with a pair of substantially vertical projections extending into the annular space, a wick-raising shaft, a spur wheel on said shaft mounted to engage the perforations in the Wickcarrier, and means carried by said shaft and arranged to engage the wick-carrier between the projections and exert a rolling pressure on the carrier as the wick is raised and lowered by said shaft.

7. The combination of an inner and an outer wick tube arranged to form an annular space therebetween, a pair of vertically-extending spaced projections carried by the inner tube and extending into said space, the ends of said projections being tapered or beveled, a wick in said space having on its exterior a metallic carrier, and wick-raising and lowering means cooperating with said carrier and having a rolling engagement with the same at a point between said projections.

8. The combination of an inner and an outer wick tube arranged to form an annular space therebetween, a pair of vertically-extending laterally-spaced projections carried by the inner tube, a wick in said space having on its exterior a metallic carrier, and wick-raising and lowering means cooperating with said carrier and having a rolling engagement with the same at a point between said projections.

In testimony whereof, I hereunto aflix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM R. JEAVONS.

WVitnesses:

J. B. I-TULL,

BRENNAN B. WEST. 

